


Nothing As Blind As A Romantic In Love

by Sylindara



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M, Teikou Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-24
Updated: 2015-01-24
Packaged: 2018-03-08 09:20:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3204053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylindara/pseuds/Sylindara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroko isn't interested in romance. Akashi doesn't want love. Together, they have something special.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing As Blind As A Romantic In Love

Kuroko is not a romantic; he does not believe in the normal teenage preoccupations of dating or confessions. But love is different; love is special. It is like fine wine, or dark chocolate; its bitterness suitable for adults. Children cannot help but be overwhelmed by it.

In front of him, Akashi-kun pauses in front of the doors to the gym, shuffling the box in his arms so he can free a hand to open it. The early morning sun shines on his hair, casting a golden halo around him. It makes him look like a painting, like something you display in a museum. Look, but don’t touch.

Kuroko steps forward with his own box, sticking an elbow under Akashi-kun’s box to help with the balancing act. They enter the gym together, shoulders brushing companionably in the stale air of the empty gym. They are the first ones here today, beating even Aomine-kun this morning for personal practice before club activities officially start.

They part after stretching. Akashi-kun starting his dribbling practice, not a hint of opening in his moves as he draws nearer to the basket. Kuroko watches from the side, careful to track every one of Akashi-kun’s mannerisms; which ones does he remember, which ones has he missed until now. He will cut to the right here, Kuroko thinks. He is right.

That is not the only thing Kuroko watches. His eyes run up and down over Akashi-kun’s body. The play of muscles beneath the skin highlights the complimentary line of his legs; they are a sportsman’s legs. Higher up, Kuroko catches a glimpse of delicate collarbones under Akashi-kun’s sweats. He tucks the view away inside his head for later, when Akashi-kun is back in his school uniform and his tie is up all the way to his neck, everything hidden from view. Akashi-kun is beautiful when he plays basketball; unapproachable in a completely different way than when he is buttoned up in his student persona.

But in the end, Kuroko could not stay there watching for long; his hands itch to touch the ball himself. No matter how necessary it is to watch Akashi-kun, no matter how attractive he is on the court, it pales next to playing basketball. 

If Kuroko was more grown up, if he was an adult, perhaps he might have stayed. The bitterness of love might have been enough. But Kuroko is still young; love cannot make up for basketball.

<3

Akashi does not believe in love. It is a sop for children, to soothe people into thinking they are necessary and needed. Akashi knows he is necessary, that he is needed; he is the heir to the Akashi Empire, his future and his wife are already picked out for him.

But even without love, there is always romance. Romance is different. Romance will always be there, before and after his life is bound to a stranger. It will be what makes his life worth living in the future set out for him, with the wife set out for him. It is what makes his life worth living now, with basketball.

Kuroko Tetsuya is not a boy most people would connect with the word romance, but that just makes it all the better for Akashi. It is good enough to be the only one to see his potential. Not that it is hard. It is a rare person who looks at Kuroko and sees him. And rarer to see more than that. To be one of the few – maybe even the only one – what more romance can Akashi ask for?

Especially, like earlier this morning, when it is just the two of them, without the distraction of anyone else needing Akashi to be the captain or the student council president or the heir. Kuroko never asks that from him. After that first time, Kuroko never asks anything of him. Akashi can depend on him to find his own way without getting involved; that is what draws Akashi to him.

Even when it isn’t only the two of them, Akashi still finds his attention caught by Kuroko. By his movements – the way they shrink in, now, all the harder to be noticed – and that is Akashi’s influence, indirect as it is. It is the future Akashi saw and drew for him. The future Kuroko found all on his own. That is why Akashi can’t help but give him his attention, even now when they are in the middle of morning practice.

On the court next to him, Kuroko is playing a mini-game with Aomine and a third year sempai against Murasakibara and two others from the first string. Kuroko and Aomine’s partnership is going strong, and it is a joy to see their smiles even as the look on the sempai’s face grow darker and darker as he finds himself left out. It is a pity, but Akashi has seen the future of Teikou’s basketball club. This is the direction that will lead them to victory. 

Kuroko and Aomine win the mini-game. Murasakibara stalks off the court, making a beeline for where he had laid his bottle and bag of chips. The sempai and other first stringers trudge after him, looking just as upset, but with a lot more resignation in their steps. Akashi feels the familiar swell of anger at that. That resignation is what bars them from standing on the court in official games. But there is no point dwelling on it. Instead, Akashi tucks the image of the hint of a smile on Kuroko’s face inside himself for later. Precisely because Akashi is the one to lead him down this path, it is all the more precious to see expression on Kuroko’s face. 

Romance, Akashi thinks, and turns back to the clipboard in his hands. 

<3

It is one of those precious days when Akashi-kun joins them for lunch; today, in one of tiny courtyards at one end of the school. The six of them crowd under the ginkgo tree in the middle of the small yard; Akashi-kun gets pride of place in the middle of the bench, Kuroko on his left thanks to his misdirection and Midorima-kun on his right thanks to Cancer’s lucky item of the day. There is no more room on the bench, leaving Kise-kun, Aomine-kun, and Murasakibara-kun to sit on the ground in front them, unwilling to fight Midorima-kun and his wooden sword, and even less willing to fight Kuroko when any one of them can squash him flat with one hand tied behind their backs.

Akashi-kun is just as lovely when he eats. Proper etiquette drips from his every move as he delicately uses his chopsticks to transport the rice into his mouth. Kuroko makes sure to keep his movements as unnoticeable as possible, watching the way Akashi-kun’s mouth close around the tips of the chopsticks and slide them between his lips as he brings them back out. 

Midorima-kun says something huffily to Murasakibara-kun, who has once again managed to smear his lunch all over his face – even though he is eating meat buns today, and Akashi-kun stops eating to add his own admonitions. Kuroko allows the minor argument to take up his attention as well, chiming in with his own comment at the moment that will surprise everyone the most. It works as well as he expected it to, Aomine-kun and Kise-kun extreme in their reactions, Midorima-kun trying to hide his surprise behind his glasses, Murasakibara-kun letting his disgust show more than his shock, and Akashi-kun is as unmoved as always.

Everyone goes back to their food soon enough, the commotion dying down; nothing can keep teenage boys from their lunch for long. Not after the grueling workout they just had this morning, and the just as grueling one coming up after school.

Kuroko goes back his study of Akashi-kun’s eating habits, letting the conversation between Aomine-kun and Kise-kun – if Aomine-kun laughing as Kise-kun squawks noisily in distress can be called conversation – fade to the background. Unlike Midorima-kun and Murasakibara-kun, who had stopped eating as they watch with fatalistic disapproval at the clamor, Akashi does not stop the movement of his chopsticks even as he looks on indulgently. 

Despite the distraction of the others, Kuroko likes the time when all six of them are together. It is easier to hide where his attention is in the chaos, allowing him to stare just a bit too much at the way Akashi-kun grips lightly at the narrow tube of his thermos as he brings it to his mouth. A pink tongue pokes out to lick at the rim, catching a drop of tea resting there.

This, too, is love, Kuroko thinks and crosses his legs. Never has he been more grateful for his lack of presence than times like this. He hopes that Kise-kun’s antics are as distracting for Akashi-kun as it is for everyone else. 

<3

Afternoon practice does not go well. The ball itself follows Akashi’s commands the way it always does, his body moving perfectly in the patterns that have been carved deep into his routine. But he is distracted, to the point where even Kise has been looking at him weirdly, to say nothing of the people who know him better – several times, Nijimura-san looked like he was about to say something, the number of times Midorima had fixed the position of his glasses was innumerable, and Murasakibara keeps darting glances at him with a confused furrow between his brows. Only Aomine, who expects Akashi to deal with his issues without it impacting his play, and Kuroko, who is too busy trying not to collapse or throw up, have been interacting with him the same as usual.

On one hand, Akashi is glad that Kuroko doesn’t seem to have noticed anything – it’s not something he can usually count on, with Kuroko’s skill at reading people – but on the other hand, he wishes Kuroko would notice so that Akashi can blame him properly.

It was all because of what happened at lunchtime – today being one of those rare days when Akashi had the free time to eat with everyone. Kuroko had been looking at him; paying so much attention to him that Akashi had let it go to his head. It was foolish of him to tease Kuroko like that – he wasn’t even interested in the possibility of love between them, just the romance of knowing Kuroko’s feelings, and how they are a foil for his own – but Kuroko had reacted so well, it had encouraged Akashi. Sometimes he forgets that Kuroko is just as much a teenage boy as the rest of them, that there is only one month difference between their ages. He forgets that Kuroko does not only suppress his feelings in the case of basketball, but everything else too. It is no excuse, but having such a rare opportunity to see this side of Kuroko – Akashi could not help but take it.

Even now, he cannot forget the heat in Kuroko’s gaze. The way he crossed his legs, inviting Akashi’s attention to the area between them. His face had been slightly flushed, and the rare sight of color on Kuroko’s cheeks had been more exciting than Akashi would have thought possible. That was the problem; he had only wanted to tease Kuroko a little, to bathe in the attention, but the knowledge that Kuroko was looking and enjoying it – that had been too much for him.

Akashi does not take matters lightly, or let situations get out of control if he can help it, but this is not the first time Kuroko had caused him to do so. It seems to be Kuroko’s specialty.

This is not romantic at all, Akashi thinks ruefully.

<3

Today has been a good day, Kuroko thinks, satisfied. Not only did Akashi-kun eat lunch with them, but he even joined them for popsicles after practice. Not that Akashi-kun ate something as plebian as popsicles; but he joined them at the freezer section to look at the selection, and even tasted a bite from Murasakibara-kun’s wasabi tofu soft serve before digging into his own green tea and red bean concoction. Kuroko hadn’t even known you could get something like that in a convenience store.

Kuroko has learned his lesson from lunch, and keeps his gaze somewhere to the left of Akashi-kun’s mouth at all times. It will be a lot harder to hide the evidence while walking, and he does not need the trouble.

As is his wont, Akashi-kun walks at the very back of the group; not quite joining in, but able to see all of their antics. Kuroko is usually in the middle of that, Kise-kun on one side and Momoi-san on the other, with Aomine-kun teasing one or all three of them while orbiting their little cluster even as Midorima-kun walks at the very front so that he can pretend he isn’t with them. But today Kuroko chooses to join Akashi-kun at the back; Murasakibara-kun’s sloping back a wall that offers the illusion of privacy from everyone else.

They were together at the beginning of the day, and the middle of it, it only seems right that they are together at the end of it too. Startled by the sentimental turn his thoughts are taking, Kuroko hurriedly turns to look at Akashi-kun; he takes in the well-formed features – now bathed in the setting sun instead of the rising – and thinks furiously about love. This is how it should be; romance does not suit Kuroko.

“What’s the matter?” Akashi-kun asks, presumably confused by Kuroko suddenly turning to stare at him.

Kuroko shakes his head lightly. “It’s nothing.” He looks Akashi-kun in the eyes. “I was just thinking that today was a good day.”

“It is a good day,” Akashi-kun agrees amiably, smiling. “Thank you for inviting me. For the early practice, and for the trip to the store.”

“You’re welcome.” Kuroko nods in his direction. “It’s not just me, we’re all glad you had the time to join us today.”

Akashi-kun’s smile widens a little, his eyes on Kuroko. “I’m glad too.” Down by their sides, the back of Akashi-kun’s hand bumps lightly against Kuroko’s. Kuroko find himself unable to care if that is love or romance.

The moment is over when, up ahead, Aomine-kun bumps into Kise-kun, making him spill his popsicle all over Midorima-kun’s back and Momoi-san’s arm. Murasakibara-kun walks faster, joining in the ruckus, while Kise-kun wails over the unfairness of it all and Momoi-san kicks Aomine-kun in the shin.

Almost unconsciously, Kuroko slows down his pace, and sees Akashi-kun do the same out of the corner of his eye. Not only does it give them a little more space from being dragged into the mess, it gives them the best seats to watch the show.

Kuroko turns his head a little, meeting Akashi-kun’s eyes as the other does so as well. Akashi-kun is still smiling faintly, a little indulgently, as if he can’t help himself; Kuroko finds himself returning the smile. They turn back to watching the others; Midorima scolding Kise as if he’s his mother while Murasakibara-kun adds his own mocking comments in-between, Momoi-san – face red – moving on from kicking Aomine-kun’s shin to stomping on his foot while he snarls back ineffectually at her, and Kise-kun fake crying for all his worth, as if a 170cm tall teenager can be cute enough to make it work.

“They are being a disturbance,” Akashi-kun says, eyes narrowing.

“Yes they are.” Kuroko quickens his steps, following Akashi-kun as he rushes forward to stop the others. This, he’s pretty sure, is not love.


End file.
